Teaching...

Here I am, day 2 of my teaching rounds and I am exhausted.  I have so much work to do it's really scary.  Technically I'm meant to be observing classes at the moment, but one of my mentors has so much faith with me that she is allowing me to run with a unit.  It's actually pretty special considering that the students I have are those who are in what is called "enhancement" classes.  These are the children that for some unknown reason (or maybe too many reasons) have slipped through the educational net that is out there.  


When I began my journey to become a teacher I naively thought that bad students (in relation to education) was due to bad teachers, teaching practices or just not caring about the individual child.  That may be true for some, but it's sadly not the case for many.  Attitude, home life, peer groups - these are all contributors to the whole.  I mentioned my mentor earlier...well, the one thing I can say about her is she is brilliant.  She is supportive, direct, understanding, disciplined...and that's not just her attitude to me but to all who she interacts with.  I'm also lucky enough that she is a Year level Co-ordinator.  Therefore I am seeing a lot more of school dynamics than just a classroom, yard duties & standard year level meetings.  


Funnily enough my other Co-ordinator doesn't quite inspire me.  I get the feeling I'm just there so he doesn't have to actually do some classes...on the other hand, I'm taking advantage of his main stream class of Year 11 History.  I have yet to meet these students - in fact tomorrow is my first session with them.  Fingers crossed!!!  Particularly when you consider I haven't done any modern History in ages...um, since high school actually.


So, that's me for today....